[T]he sheer economic cataclysm we would have to suffer in order for average people to return to the standards of living of the 1970s—to say nothing of the Great Depression—would be many times more severe than the Great Recession.

Speaking of reasons for optimism, Matt Ridley has 17 of them. (HT Mark Perry.) I depart slightly from Matt on the matter of population. I’m not at all sure that it’s cause for applause that population growth is expected to slow. People – at least, people in free societies – being the ultimate resource, I want as many people as possible to be born and to live long lives. The prospect of slowing population growth saddens me.